Vertical Farming

Introduction

In the US, big money is being invested in Vertical Farming (VF). For instance, Bowery Farming backed by Google’s Alphabet and Square Roots, founded by Elon Musk’s brother Kimbal. Also the innovative startup InFarm which has leafy greens growing right at the selling face, in supermarkets. VF is a fertile space for development right now.

Global food retail sales account for about US$4 trillion/year, and food accounts for 15% of what US households spend each year. It is an industry ripe for disruption.

This video explains what it is

Future of Agriculture

This from ‘Ag Funder News (AFN)’ sums it up

“As leaps occur in technology, I predict the days that consumers are going to have their produce shipped months in advance and from thousands of miles away, are numbered.  Because technology is available today to grow locally and bring fresh produce to the mass-market within days or even hours.  Additionally, as climate change brings dramatic weather changes, controlled-environment agriculture allows for constant conditions regardless of weather patterns.  VFs and greenhouses will increasingly grow greater sums of our produce both domestically and across the world.

What is Vertical Farming

VF is using containers, old warehouses, disused or existing buildings to grow food, near the market. Why?

• Better quality and fresher produce.
• Improves nutrition through controlled growing conditions and gene editing
• Grows quicker. As low as 16 to 21 days from planting to shipping. Computer controlled LED lighting optimises growth
• Uses far less water, as little as 5% of land grown
• No seasons. Plants are grown 24/7
• Reduces transport time to market. Hours instead of weeks and months
• No weeds, pesticides or herbicides, no polluting runoff on to land and waterways. Controlled conditions, no insects or animals
• Provides food for cattle and sheep in drought times and floods
• Independent of weather, drought.floods, etc. Year round optimum environment
• A solution to population growth food needs
• Reduces land degradation, allowing reforesting of old farms as parkland and slows loss of biodiversity.

Downside

It is very expensive at present. This table (US$) is from ‘Ag Funder News (AFN)’. N.B: Container Farm is conducted in a Shipping Container

Conventional Outdoor Farm	Hydroponic Greenhouse	Vertical Farm	Container Farm
$1.43 / kg	$5.13 / kg	$6.75 / kg	$15.70 / kg

High initial cost is common for nearly all new technologies. But with volume and improved techniques, prices come down. Electric Vehicles are expensive because of the power source, batteries. As new developments occur and uptake increases, prices will drop. Solar cell prices have decreased by 90%.  Maybe Robots will bring the pricing down. As is often quoted, Rome was not built in a day!

Vertical Farming using Robots

Will use of robots reduce costs? High operating costs, especially for labor and electricity are the problem. Somewhere from 40% to 60% of a typical VF’s operating costs are for labor. Electricity costs are high particularly for grow lights (LEDs), used 16 hours a day, but can be reduced via solar collectors, which help provide the power supply not only to the robotics and IT (Information Technology),

There are several VFs in USA being designed for almost total robotic use and in Australia, Gold Coast based Stacked Farm is Australia’s fully end to end automated  VF.

How Does It All Work

Normal sunlight is spread across a spectrum from UV to infrared. In photosynthesis, red and blue wavelengths interact with chlorophyll to help form glucose and cellulose, the structural material in plant cell walls.

LEDs reproduce this effect and do it faster than the sun. LEDs optimise the conditions for growth. There are elements of sunlight that plants don’t use as efficiently and those are reduced or taken out. One of those elements is heat. Under the lights, it is no warmer than the rest of the room.

The crops need different intensities of light as they pass through stages of growth. So they’re constantly monitored by sensors and software that tweak their conditions as necessary. Triggering the right combination of processes in photosynthesis, in combination with other growth factors creates desired effects. For example, with the right lighting conditions, lettuce turns purple or red and  strawberries will be sweeter.

Each plant sits in a thimble-sized container of sterilized coconut bark, as a substrate for germination and root development. From there the roots extend into shallow troughs of nutrient rich water. The plants are not in soil but are constantly in water rather than being periodically sprayed or on a timed drip, making this hydroponic farming.

Australian Use

Australia has a huge amount of land and a small population but water supply is a major problem, often with long term droughts or damaging floods

VFs could be a game changer for the animal farming industry, because livestock feed can grow very quickly and use up to 95 per cent less water. A 1000sqm vertical farm will have enough output to feed hundreds of cattle and many more sheep daily.

While the production is currently focused on leafy greens, herbs and livestock feed, the CSIRO is working to develop additional products suited for VF growth.

Discussions are underway with property owners in Victoria and Queensland to build farms suitable for produce growing, as well as a major farming operator in NSW to grow livestock feed.

Grow Aeroponically at Home

Home gardening is becoming about 20% more popular due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  Advances in hydroponic food growing technology have improved so that smart devices can take out some of the labour, land and expertise of traditional gardening. Conventional outdoor home gardening needs knowledge and effort for good results. But technology can now help lay people experiment in growing fresh, nutritious food in their homes. See example at right. Modules come in a variety of sizes and there are many types available. If you are interested, Google ‘Commercial Home Hydroponic Kits’.

The main trade off with indoor hydroponics is replacing free sunlight. Depending on the amount of natural light available at home, an LED hydroponic system uses significant electricity. Also the commercial kits are expensive. However time will probably reduce costs.